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Sunday, November 9, 2014

Menu Plan: Fall (Nov. 9-15)

I'm going to use the menu plan by Confessions of a Homeshooler this week as a base. The meals appear to be real-food oriented. Also, I figure that a busy homeschooling mama of four littles must know a few things about preparing fast and affordable meals. We shall see. :) I did make quite a few changes though. We have had several of the meals recently, and so I substituted so as to not have to directly repeat them. I also can't imagine my husband eating things like french bread pizza or "ham and cream cheese pinwheels." Haha. It served as a good base, however. Perhaps another week I can apply the meals in her plan more directly. Strategies:- When I make a green smoothie the first morning, I'll make a large batch to freeze for other occasions in the week. This way I don't have to remake it each day saving myself time and a kitchen mess.- Pancakes will be made and frozen in a similar fashion. I'm hoping I can find a recipe that will make just a few. Usually a recipe makes a bunch and it takes forever to stand and cook them. This just wouldn't work in the morning. - To make side salads quicker, mix a couple of containers of lettuce and then add the toppings (easy would be lettuce, tomato, cheese, cucumber, carrots, seed/nut etc). Store all combined. When you need a side salad, simply pull out the desired amount. - I'm planning to utilize leftovers as lunches on several days. It's the absolute easiest way to go!- I did go ahead and buy the "Dirty Dozen" as organics. I'm always in great debate as to whether or not the extra expense is worthwhile. There were just a few on the list that I'll use for Tennyson's homemade baby food, so I decided to go ahead. - I've gone super simple on snacks. I've learned that a protein snack every two to three hours is very helpful for keeping pregnancy sickness in check. I simply repeat the same snacks each day for a week. Next week I'll choose a different set. The hardest part is simply stopping long enough to prepare and eat them so frequently, but it's worth it when I do. Breakfasts: - Cranberry-orange muffins, milk- green smoothie, pancakes- green smoothie, french toast, bacon- parfait (yogurt, mixed berries, almonds slices, honey)- green smoothie, scrambled egg with cheese, baconLunches- grilled ham and swiss cheese sandwich (I'll be heating my ham up to "steaming hot" first since I'm expecting), apple- leftovers- pizza, side salad - leftovers- avocado egg salad wraps, pretzels- chicken fried riceDinners- Grilled pork chops, breaded cauliflower, side salad- Bean & rice burritos- Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken, potato salad, brussels sprouts- Crockpot BBQ ribs, baked potato, sauteed spinach- White Chicken ChiliSnacks- apple and peanut butter- protein bar- hardboiled egg- cottage cheese and fruit (peaches)- hummus with carrot and celery sticks